Patriarch Bartholomew Wants Turkey to Respect Hagia Sophia and Orthodoxy

Natalya Mihailova | 12 July 2016

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew called on Muslims to show “respect” to the Christian faith, on the occasion of the end of the feast of Ramadan on Friday. He expressed “respect” for Islam, however, he called on the same courtesy to be paid to “places of worship of our forefathers” in reference to the Koran prayer readings transmitted live from Hagia Sophia every night of Ramadan.

Speaking at Hagia Kyriaki Church at Kontoskali in Istanbul, the Greek Patriarch said that the monument of Hagia Sophia had not only placed its seal on Christian church architecture through the ages but had also left a mark on the consciousness of an entire nation. Lack of respect to holy places of faith is not just an insult to Greeks but to world cultural heritage that a democratic country, such as Turkey, should respect and honor without insulting a minority of citizens that live in the country.

Since you are here…

…we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong.

Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable.

For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir.

If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life's purpose, family and society.